My dad and I are going to Colorado to Unit 211. We have a couple of guys that dad works with that invited us to go. We are going 20 or so miles and make camp and hunt from there. Is there any advice for the DYI first timers? Thanks

In 211? You ain't going 20 miles from a road. It's patchy landownership BLM mountains. My advice is pick a new unit if that's how you want to hunt.

Just wanted to edit this add, I'm not trying to be d!ck. Just pointing out that 211 is not a backpack or horseback hunting kind of unit. There just isn't a large enough piece of ground. It's a spot and stalk canyon country, scrub oak unit, where you had better know exactly where you are before you pull the trigger. There's plenty of elk, but they can be difficult to get to due to the ColoWyo mine property acting as a refuge.

Hard to advise without knowing what time of year you are going. And are you camping in a tent or in a camper trailer?? And at what elevation you are going to hunt??

If you are hunting at 10,000 feet or higher then you should be prepared for any weather. Including 3 or 4 feet of snow.

Dry clothing, and camping gear was the biggest problem we ran into when we had problems. One year everything was wet, and I mean everything. It was so damp that a match would not even light. That was a bad hunt and the snow forced us off the mountain in the first rifle season.

My favorite hunting in CO is with a MZ in September. You can normally get at least a few days of good hunting in the MZ season. Tom.

Don't worry, nothing over 8300 feet in that unit.

Pretty hard in Colorado to go 20 miles in without coming out the other side or darn close to it. At the minimum you will start running into hunters coming in from the opposite direction

Sorry we were looking at Unit 62 also. That is were the 20 mile deal came from. I looked at 211 and it is pretty thick from what I can tell. We will be going the 2nd rifle season so far that is the plan. We are planning on the couple of feet of snow just to be on the safe side. It looks like that the units around 211 and just to the east may be where we go but 62 area east is an option too. Sorry for miss leading you. Things start running together after long work hours. Thanks again for the help.

Ditto with Exo. 211 is mostly a drive by unit, heavily crisscrossed with roads and often filled with jeeps, trucks and ATVs. But there are areas to walk and find game. There are small resident herds of elk which quickly run for sanctuary. Most elk migrate here when the snow starts to pile up in the mountains during the later seasons IF the weather is bad. The last two years have had very mild fall seasons and the elk have not migrated into this unit until after the 4th season. Most camping is just off the major roads such as CR 17 on BLM land. If you do decide to hunt 211 stop at the visitor center in Craig. They have a DOW representative there that can give lots of valuable information on where to find the elk and the status of the elk migration. You can also pick up a map showing the "Golden Triangle" which is a large area of mixed private and public land which the DOW has contracted for public access. I have hunted 211 and the surrounding units often over the last few years and have managed to have an enjoyable hunt, though not always successful. If you look for the least trodden areas especially the long sagebrush draws that are paralleled by roads. Some of the sagebrush is over six feet tall and can hide a lot of animals that can't be seen from the road. Another area is some rugged hills called the Dansforth Hills but be careful as this area is mixed public and private land. Good luck!

Thanks for the information. I am really looking forward to the trip. What is the distance of most of the shots when you get off the road? We were going to leave the road hunters and go into the bush to hunt. We don't have any issue getting away and walking our butts off. That is why we sleep good at night.